Location:  North Shore Road and Sheridan Trail
Size:  104.68 acres
Public Access:  No
Easement granted:  April 2007
Easement type:  Conservation
Grantees:  Whatcom Land Trust

    The City of Bellingham granted this conservation easement to help protect the water quality of Lake Whatcom, the drinking water source for the Bellingham area.  Located between Olsen Creek and Smith Creek, the property falls from an elevation of 1200 feet above sea level to about 440 feet, with much of the property very steep and rocky.  It abuts State forestland on the north and east.  A power transmission corridor and a small tract of forest borders the land on the south and southwest, while a rural residential tract lies northwest of the property.

    A logging road winds through the property, and old skid roads and stumps are evidence of past timber harvest.  A mixed second growth forest now covers the property.  It includes Douglas fir, western red cedar, red alder, western hemlock and big-leaf maple.  The understory includes salmonberry, Indian plum, vine maple, swordfern and other native plants.  Several unnamed creeks flow across the property, draining into Lake Whatcom.  This habitat supports a variety of animal species, including coyotes, deer, owls and hawks, as well as other small mammals and amphibians.